Prologue Chapter One - The First Statue
by OliviaOwl13
Summary: Hi, guys. This is an original story of mine, and sorry to all the Harry Potter fans out there, this has nothing to do with Harry Potter. I really hope you like it. Reviews are definitely appreciated! Blurb: When the Olka's enemy, Krad Thgin, leader of the Olken, steals the Olka's eight statues of power, it's up to Quint Olin and Jilin Oiuyart to get them back.


**PROLOGUE**

The Elders gathered at the Circle*, each ready to converse with the enemy, the Olken, had chosen a new leader, and this one was a lot more evil than the old leader. Krad Thgin, he was called, and if the Olka were right about him, he wouldn't dare to launch a fullscale attack, not without the proper bargaining tools or armies.

Everyone began talking at once, interrupting each other and arguing loud enough to wake even the deafest Olka. The Head of the Elders, Umelia Ial glanced at Brend Lale, her joint Head. He nodded and she raised her hands, palms out, facing the ceiling. "Friends," she said, her voice booming, even though she spoke quietly. "I don't believe arguing will do us a bit of good, do you? We have come here to act as the leaders of the Olka and to discuss this "Krad Thgin". We have _not _come here to act as though we were young Olka." The Elders, ashamed, lowered their eyes to the ground in recognition. Brend continued from where Umelia had left off. "Of course, each to their own opinion, but we must remain a united front," he began, seriously, looking each Elder in the eye. "For our tribe, we must do this. Understood?" They all nodded. "Good. And now, to important business, I had a vision last-"

Brend stopped and listened. Cackles echoed across the hall in which the Elders stood. His eyes opened wide, and Umelia looked on in dismay as his eyes turned white. Brend had the gift of foretelling the future, and as Umelia had learned from experience, when his eyes turned white, it usually meant his visions were coming true.

She spun wildly around, looking for the source of the cackling. She didn't have to look far: at the far end of the hall, she saw a creature, cloaked, radiating darkness and evil. "Krad Thgin," she breathed, fear making her throat close up.

She knew it without really knowing it, that this was the new leader of the Olken. Who else would radiate such evil and darkness? As she watched him jump through a shattered window, she smiled grimly. And he had just stolen the eight most important artifacts the Olka could ever hope to have. She rushed over to Brend, holding his head up off the floor, all the while thinking, 'We need someone to get those back.'

*_The Circle is where the eight cat statues stand, each representing a characteristic that the Olka most pride themselves in: hope, strength, determination, leadership, wits, loyalty, generosity and love. It is probably the most important place the Olka have. They are where the power to protect the Olka comes from, and also gives the Olka unique magical powers to defend themselves from attacks. _

Chapter One

_The Quest_

"Hi-yaah!" Quint Olin yelled, thrusting his sword forward into the dummy once more. He'd spent the last two and a half hours practising with the dummy in the training yard, getting better by the minute. He was nearly seventeen, just two months off, in fact, and felt that he needed to improve his skill with a sword.

He flicked his wet hair out of his face. It had been raining for the past hour, but Quint felt that rain helped him to become a better swordsman, as he got used to a slick hilt, and it toughened his palms so he would never drop it. At least, not in the rain. He gripped the sword in both hands again and took one last swing at the dummy, slicing off its' pathetic wooden sword. "Nice," an appreciative voice said. Quint spun around, sword in hand, then sheathed it when he saw who it was. He smiled in relief. "Hey, Jilin," he said, grinning.

Jilin Oiuyart had been his best friend ever since he could remember. He'd met her first whilst in a bit of trouble. Wing had just gotten a stone lodged in her hoof. He'd managed to keep her calm, but without the proper tool, he couldn't get the stone out, no matter how hard he tried. Wing had just been staring at him, disgust obvious in her brown eyes. She seemed to be thinking, 'Well, this one's useless.'

He'd stood up then, growled at her, "Well, you try to get it out, then!" He'd stomped off, then heard a bold voice call out, "I can get it free!" He snapped around. "Who said that?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"

A small Olka girl had stepped around a huge oak tree at the end of the glade he and Wing were in, staring him down. "I said," she called out, in a clear voice, "I can get it free, if you want me to." He'd stared at her. She was striking, with brown eyes framed by huge lashes, a small upturned nose and pixie-like ears. Her mouth, at that moment, had been in a small frown. "Uh... sure!" he'd called out.

As she'd moved towards Wing, he said, hurriedly, "Wait! What's your name?" She'd turned around, rolled her eyes and said, "Jilin. Jilin Oiuyart." He nodded, and she'd stood there expectantly waiting. He finally couldn't stand it any longer, and snapped, "What?" She snapped back, "Aren't you going to tell me yours?" He'd realised then and there that while Jilin might look delicate, she was a force to be reckoned with. "Quint Olin," he said, friendly-like. She'd gotten the stone out in no time flat and they'd been friends ever since.

Now she was the same age he was, just three months younger, and three feet shorter. He'd actually formed a miniscule, tiny, almost nonexistent crush on her. But it was "tiny", he insisted. She was still his best friend and he didn't want their friendship to become weird if he told her he liked her and she didn't like him back. He blushed just thinking about it.

Jilin peered at him curiously. "You okay?" she asked, raising one eyebrow. He said, hurriedly, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You wanna par?" She looked at the sword in his hand wistfully. "I'd love to," she said. "But my ma wants me home by the time the sun starts to sink, so I'd better go now." He glanced up at the sky: it was getting late. "Okay, see you." "See you." She waved and then was gone. He sighed and began saddling Wing, ready for the half an hour trek home.

"Ma!" he yelled, closing the front door. "I'm home!" Quint took off his cloak and hung it on the coatrack. He carefully placed his sword in it's special rack, then took off his boots and walked around a bit more. "Ma!" he yelled.

His mother came bustling around the corner, dusting her hands off on her apron. "No need to yell, Quint, dear," she said, fondly, but raising an eyebrow all the same. Quint had learnt to fear that eyebrow. It meant that either: you did something bad, so quit it, now, or you had done something REALLY bad and you were about to be punished for it.

He asked when dinner was, and then retreated to his room. He laced his fingers on the back of his head and slumped down on the bed, staring out the window. The last rays of sunlight were pouring through the windowpanes, sending light to every corner of the room. Quint stared at the light, watching it grow fainter and fainter until he fell into a light doze.

An hour later, he awoke to a knock at the door. Quint got up, confused and went to the front door. His mother had answered it. "Yes? Oh, I'm sorry," she rambled. "You must be Umelia, yes? Oh, in that case, come in, come in." His mother drew the door open to admit a heavily cloaked figure.

The figure threw back the head of the cloak and Quint saw that it was Umelia Ial, one of the Elders. Her hair, brown streaked with grey, was pulled back in a tight bun and her eyes were steely. "Quint Olin?" she asked, formally. Quint pulled away from the shadows in the corner. "Yes?" he asked, shocked at how meek his voice sounded. Umelia stared at him, the steely gaze boring into his eyes. "We request your presence at the Circle immediately."


End file.
